n. 1
The act of irritating or annoying.
What irritation causes you to be so moody?
n. 2
The state of being irritated.
n. 3
A thing or person that annoys.
n. 4
A state of inflammation or of painful reaction to cell or tissue damage.

Related words

Word family: irritant irritative irritable irritate

Forms

Plural: irritations → annoyances, vexations, exasperations, resentments…

Choose the right word

Irritation, Impatience, Fretfulness, Peevishness, Pettishness or Petulance?

Impatience, fretfulness, irritation, peevishness, pettishness, petulance, and vexation express the slighter forms of anger. Irritation, petulance, and vexation are temporary and for immediate cause.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

resentment What's the reason for your resentment towards me?
annoyance To our great annoyance, he barged in on our party.
exasperation Mary looked at Tom with exasperation.
vexation Free yourself of sadness, vexation, and fear!
pain By and large, women can bear pain better than men.
discomfort Have you been feeling a bit of discomfort lately?

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
irritation		rising
resentment		rising
annoyance		rising
exasperation		rising
vexation		rising
pain		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: pain¹, fret¹
5 letters: anger², pique¹, chafe¹
6 letters: bother², plague¹, temper²
7 letters: trouble², torment²
8 letters: annoying³, nuisance², soreness, vexation
9 letters: annoyance³, grievance²
10 letters: excitement³, resentment³, discomfort³, excitation⁴, infliction³
11 letters: provocation⁴, indignation⁴, displeasure³, aggravation⁴, innervation, botheration
12 letters: inflammation⁴, exasperation⁵, exacerbation⁵

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (anger² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: irritation
Italiano: irritazione
Español: irritación